Search found 130 matches
- Thu Mar 14, 2019 6:55 am
- Forum: General Chat
- Topic: Crate Sizing
- Replies: 7
- Views: 8944
Re: Crate Sizing
My GSP is on the bigger side - about 65 lbs - and he seems plenty comfortable in an intermediate size RT kennel. We'd initially gotten an intermediate for travel and a large for at home, but we eventually sold the large and just kept the intermediate. It's cozy in there for him, but he sleeps curled...
- Fri Jul 08, 2016 11:38 am
- Forum: Health and Nutrition
- Topic: Enlarged prostate?
- Replies: 14
- Views: 8626
Re: Enlarged prostate?
No, he didn't do any physical check of the prostate.
- Fri Jul 08, 2016 8:34 am
- Forum: Health and Nutrition
- Topic: Enlarged prostate?
- Replies: 14
- Views: 8626
Enlarged prostate?
I took my 4-year-old intact GSP to the vet yesterday for his annual check-up/shots. The tech and vet were pushing to neuter him, which I fully expected; before the vet came in, the tech mentioned as one of the reasons the possibility of an enlarged prostate. He said one of the signs of that is the a...
- Wed May 04, 2016 12:11 pm
- Forum: General Chat
- Topic: Invisible Fence
- Replies: 7
- Views: 6393
Invisible Fence
Does anybody have any experience with an invisible fence? Lately we've been having problems with our dog (4 year old intact GSP) getting out of the yard/house. We almost never had this problem before moving into this house about two months ago, but we spend a lot more time in the front yard now, and...
- Wed Aug 26, 2015 7:44 pm
- Forum: General Chat
- Topic: Snake in the yard
- Replies: 37
- Views: 14055
Re: Snake in the yard
Yeah, as mask said I'm looking more for how to get rid of snakes, not how to vaccinate my dog against them. Honestly, I'm more worried about the kids than the dog; in theory I can tell them "Don't touch snakes," but with their ages ranging from 2-4, I'm not going to rely on their judgment and assume...
- Tue Aug 25, 2015 9:16 pm
- Forum: General Chat
- Topic: Snake in the yard
- Replies: 37
- Views: 14055
Snake in the yard
Last night our GSP came across a snake in the backyard. It was coiled up, but looked to be 3-4 feet in length. We live in the Mojave desert, so my presumption is the snake is poisonous. The dog barked but stayed far away from the snake (we've had snake aversion training done on him, but that was two...
- Wed Apr 08, 2015 1:30 pm
- Forum: Off Topic Forum
- Topic: Dog kenneling in CA
- Replies: 2
- Views: 2639
Dog kenneling in CA
Is there anybody in the Monterey/Carmel or San Francisco areas who can recommend a place to board our dog? We're going on a family vacation up the coast, and most days we'll be camping so we'd like to bring our dog along with us, but I'm having trouble finding what I'm looking for ... he's a 3-year-...
- Wed Jan 14, 2015 10:40 am
- Forum: Health and Nutrition
- Topic: How much do you feed?
- Replies: 37
- Views: 22767
Re: How much do you feed?
Thanks for the input. We still have about 1.5 bags of Savor left, but I once that is used up we'll switch to Sport and see if that makes any difference. I'll also continue to look into deworming him.
- Tue Jan 13, 2015 12:43 pm
- Forum: Health and Nutrition
- Topic: How much do you feed?
- Replies: 37
- Views: 22767
Re: How much do you feed?
For reference (even though I don't know how to upload pictures), my GSP is a bit thinner than the two in those pictures. He looks healthy and happy, but you can definitely see most if not all of his ribs. I'll make a note to myself to look into dewormers while the kids are napping today; probably wo...
- Mon Jan 12, 2015 4:40 pm
- Forum: Health and Nutrition
- Topic: How much do you feed?
- Replies: 37
- Views: 22767
Re: How much do you feed?
Thanks for all the input. Yes, I realize there's a lot more that can factor in, I was just curious if he was waaaaay out there, and if so, by how much. I don't have any other high-activity dogs to compare him with. As far as his stool, it goes back and forth; often it's just fine, but occasionally h...
- Mon Jan 12, 2015 3:35 pm
- Forum: Health and Nutrition
- Topic: How much do you feed?
- Replies: 37
- Views: 22767
Re: How much do you feed?
We're feeding him Purina ProPlan Savor.
Not sure if it matters, but I forgot to mention that he is on the larger side for a GSP; not freakishly large, but on the larger end of the spectrum. Unfortunately I don't know his weight, though.
Not sure if it matters, but I forgot to mention that he is on the larger side for a GSP; not freakishly large, but on the larger end of the spectrum. Unfortunately I don't know his weight, though.
- Mon Jan 12, 2015 2:34 pm
- Forum: Health and Nutrition
- Topic: How much do you feed?
- Replies: 37
- Views: 22767
How much do you feed?
How many cups a day do you feed your dog? I have a male GSP who will be 3 in April. He looks healthy (shiny coat, etc.) but is definitely skinnier than any other dog I see around the neighborhood (granted, most family pets are overweight). He certainly doesn't look emaciated, but you can see his spi...
- Mon Sep 22, 2014 8:44 am
- Forum: Training
- Topic: Wild quail for my pup
- Replies: 2
- Views: 1471
Re: Wild quail for my pup
You're in Lancaster? Where are you finding coveys of quail? We live on Edwards, so about 45 minutes north of you and we've found a couple quail here and there, but nothing more than that, and that's really been holding up our training. Our dog is a little over two but sounds like at about the same p...
- Sun Sep 14, 2014 4:23 pm
- Forum: Hunting
- Topic: Hunting license question
- Replies: 4
- Views: 2930
Re: Hunting license question
Thanks for the replies! I did take the hunter training class, we're just thinking we can save $50-60 by only buying one license. I've actually done more shooting than my husband - I grew up in a gun-crazy family, he did not - I'm just more interested in focusing on the dog's performance, at least fo...
- Sun Sep 14, 2014 9:12 am
- Forum: Hunting
- Topic: Hunting license question
- Replies: 4
- Views: 2930
Hunting license question
My husband and I are going to take our dog out hunting for the first time and are looking into hunting licenses. I have no desire to handle/fire the shotgun, but I do want to be along to handle the dog and see how things go. Do we need to get a license for me also, or can my husband be the only lice...
- Thu Aug 28, 2014 9:55 pm
- Forum: Hunting
- Topic: Good areas in Southern California?
- Replies: 6
- Views: 4495
Re: Good areas in Southern California?
Red Mountain is up on 395, right? We're about an hour from there. We headed out that way once about a year ago (not to hunt, just to let the dog run and see what we could find), but we had no idea what we were doing and the dog took off and lost track of us, and we didn't see any birds. Not sure if ...
- Thu Aug 28, 2014 12:10 pm
- Forum: Hunting
- Topic: Good areas in Southern California?
- Replies: 6
- Views: 4495
Good areas in Southern California?
We want to make sure we actually take the dog out hunting this season, but even though we've gotten a decent handle on the training side of things, we have no idea where to look for quail. We've actually recently come across a few within walking distance of our house, which is great for the dog to s...
- Thu Aug 28, 2014 11:16 am
- Forum: Training
- Topic: Dog pooping in the house?
- Replies: 20
- Views: 9970
Re: Dog pooping in the house?
I don't have any amazing insights on this, but my first thoughts are: 1. I don't know if there are any medical conditions that can contribute to that sort of thing, but if you think that's a possibility, you might want to talk to your vet. 2. Don't give her an opportunity to poop in the house; if sh...
- Mon Aug 18, 2014 9:26 am
- Forum: Training
- Topic: Found wild quail ... now what?
- Replies: 18
- Views: 8737
Re: Found wild quail ... now what?
Thank you all for your responses! I've taken the dog out to that area a few times now, and although we haven't actually found any birds, I think the scent is there enough that he's remembering to hunt for birds rather than just run around crazy trying to scare them up. Working him into the wind defi...
- Sat Aug 09, 2014 10:10 pm
- Forum: Training
- Topic: Found wild quail ... now what?
- Replies: 18
- Views: 8737
Re: Found wild quail ... now what?
Thanks, DonF, you have a good memory - yes, we live in base housing. I was looking at pigeon traps this afternoon thinking we might be able to hide one in our yard and try to snag some that way - since we'd just be releasing them after catching them anyway, and I'm already breaking the leash law on ...
- Sat Aug 09, 2014 2:42 pm
- Forum: Training
- Topic: Found wild quail ... now what?
- Replies: 18
- Views: 8737
Found wild quail ... now what?
I have a 2 year old GSP who my husband and I started working with earlier on, dabbled with NAVHDA, and started with PS/PF but got stuck when we had a hard time finding pigeons to use. (We got through the step where the dog finds/points a bird in a launcher, you have the dog whoa, release the bird, a...
- Mon Jan 06, 2014 8:24 am
- Forum: General Chat
- Topic: GSP gone cranky!
- Replies: 22
- Views: 9386
Re: GSP gone cranky!
We noticed our GSP (coming up on 2 years old) getting crabby at getting off his big fluffly bed in the living room to kennel up in the laundry room. He never growled or snapped or anything (good for him he didn't - I would have pounced him), but he definitely looked pissed when we'd get him up, and ...
- Fri Nov 01, 2013 10:26 am
- Forum: General Chat
- Topic: Wire crate
- Replies: 12
- Views: 5219
Re: Wire crate
Where in CA do you live? We got a Ruff Tuff kennel from the beginning with our puppy, and we made a divider out of plastic-y material that we could zip-tie into different positions, moving it farther back to increase the size of the kennel. It's sized for I think the "large" kennel, but I'm sure it ...
- Thu Oct 31, 2013 8:20 am
- Forum: General Chat
- Topic: Aggression towards a puppy
- Replies: 15
- Views: 6361
Re: Aggression towards a puppy
You did the right thing. With really hard headed dogs trying to set dominace you sometimes have to piss on them while you have them on there back to put them in there place. I dont think ur guy needs that yet. Hmm ... I may have to let my husband or two-year-old boy take on that task. It would be r...
- Wed Oct 30, 2013 11:19 am
- Forum: General Chat
- Topic: Aggression towards a puppy
- Replies: 15
- Views: 6361
Re: Aggression towards a puppy
When it's someone else's pup it's hard ,but here I let them work it out.It's not a puppy to an adult dog, it's a possible threat. Yeah, if it was my puppy I'd probably turn them out in a yard or something together and see what happened (with spare hands available in case things turned sour), but I ...
- Wed Oct 30, 2013 11:17 am
- Forum: General Chat
- Topic: Aggression towards a puppy
- Replies: 15
- Views: 6361
Re: Aggression towards a puppy
I put him on his back mostly because I feel like he should be punished for being aggressive, and it's something that Scout doesn't like (allegedly it's a dominance kind of thing), without me looking abusive. Those are the only two times I've done that to Scout ... in the situation it seems like some...
- Wed Oct 30, 2013 10:31 am
- Forum: General Chat
- Topic: Aggression towards a puppy
- Replies: 15
- Views: 6361
Aggression towards a puppy
My male GSP (1.5 years, not neutered) has been good with other dogs, no real problems with neighbor dogs or anything like that, except this one lab puppy. The first time he met the puppy, she was I think 10 weeks old (this was about a month ago). Scout (my dog) was not on a leash, she (the puppy) wa...
- Wed Oct 30, 2013 10:19 am
- Forum: Health and Nutrition
- Topic: Car sick
- Replies: 7
- Views: 3535
Re: Car sick
Our dog was really bad about car rides when he was younger. Miserable. Pooping, throwing up, foaming at the mouth, struggling to avoid getting in the car, etc. I think age helps some, but other things we did involved putting him in his kennel in the van for meals - the first couple of times he refus...
- Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:59 am
- Forum: General Chat
- Topic: People who hate e collars..
- Replies: 25
- Views: 9809
Re: People who hate e collars..
I must be looking in the wrong places to find people who are so easily agitated ... everyone I've encountered (including my aunt, who I thought would be squeamish about the idea, but also everyone I know in my neighborhood) has not been bothered by the e-collar. I explain it to them simply, saying o...
- Mon Sep 30, 2013 10:56 am
- Forum: Training
- Topic: HELP! I think I've screwed up.
- Replies: 23
- Views: 8552
Re: HELP! I think I've screwed up.
There was a while where I made a similar mistake with the e-collar. The dog was whining/yipping in his kennel, and I was trying to use stimulation to get him to be quiet. I let myself get frustrated and kept turning the collar up to "get my point across." Terrible idea. Poor dog went around for abou...
- Sun Sep 08, 2013 2:17 pm
- Forum: Training
- Topic: E-collar technique
- Replies: 16
- Views: 5809
Re: E-collar technique
Thanks for all the replies! Very helpful. I know the dog does absolutely understand the commands, both with and without stimulation, so I think it's just a matter of treating all outings as "training," even if it's just a casual outing - when we go out "to train," I pay close attention to how I'm do...
- Sat Sep 07, 2013 11:08 am
- Forum: Training
- Topic: E-collar technique
- Replies: 16
- Views: 5809
Re: E-collar technique
We're not looking to compete, we just want a well-behaved dog that we can take out hunting on occasion (and he *is* well-behaved - far better-behaved than I ever thought a dog I owned would be, and every time we interact with other people they comment on how obedient he is (granted, that's compared ...
- Sat Sep 07, 2013 7:28 am
- Forum: Training
- Topic: E-collar technique
- Replies: 16
- Views: 5809
Re: E-collar technique
Okay ... but *if* your dog doesn't obey the first time ... hypothetically ... I already said the dog isn't perfectly trained. My dog is trained to a level I'm comfortable with; in the cost-benefit analysis of whether we should work more on basic obedience, we've decided not to stress it much and mor...
- Fri Sep 06, 2013 3:09 pm
- Forum: Training
- Topic: E-collar technique
- Replies: 16
- Views: 5809
Re: E-collar technique
kninebirddog - I was asking the question with the assumption the dog understood the command and was collar-conditioned to it (ours is collar-conditioned to here, heel, and whoa). But he's not perfect (or probably more accurately, he's exactly as good/bad as our training techniques have been), so he ...
- Fri Sep 06, 2013 2:02 pm
- Forum: Training
- Topic: E-collar technique
- Replies: 16
- Views: 5809
E-collar technique
Just curious about how other people use their e-collar/what the best way is. A few "options" I've thought of: 1) No stim for the first command given, but stim if the dog doesn't respond to the initial command. (And would you use a higher or lower stim?) 2) Lower stim for the first command, then bump...
- Tue Sep 03, 2013 10:19 am
- Forum: General Chat
- Topic: Questions after 5 months
- Replies: 13
- Views: 5529
Re: Questions after 5 months
Can you put a clip or lock or something on the gate? We have a two-year-old who will let himself and the dog out of the backyard, so I put a little clip on the outside of the gate that he can't work (yet) so I don't have to worry about them escaping. Also, you can try to get in the habit of putting ...
- Mon Sep 02, 2013 8:59 am
- Forum: General Chat
- Topic: leather collar question
- Replies: 7
- Views: 2829
leather collar question
Might be a silly question, but I'll ask anyway. I like the looks of leather collars and, from the threads on here in the last couple of weeks, picked one I think I would like to buy, but I'm curious about how "gentle" you have to be with them. Right now we have one of the plastic-y sort of collar th...
- Mon Aug 12, 2013 4:15 pm
- Forum: General Chat
- Topic: 4 yr old GSP- defiant/aggressive behavior
- Replies: 49
- Views: 20492
Re: 4 yr old GSP- defiant/aggressive behavior
You mentioned in one post putting the e-collar on him and using that when he gets aggressive ... I'm not an expert, but I remember seeing on several other posts (usually about dog-to-dog aggression) that using e-collar stim can just escalate things because then the dog gets really mad. I don't have ...
- Mon Aug 12, 2013 7:41 am
- Forum: Training
- Topic: Perfect Finish question
- Replies: 15
- Views: 6265
Re: Perfect Finish question
Unfortunately trapping birds isn't an option ... we live on a military base, so everything from pigeons to greasy dumpster-diving ravens to mangy coyotes are protected.
- Sun Aug 11, 2013 10:08 pm
- Forum: Training
- Topic: Perfect Finish question
- Replies: 15
- Views: 6265
Perfect Finish question
We're hoping to get some bird work done with the dog this weekend; we're gradually working through Perfect Start/Perfect Finish, and this weekend if all goes well we should be able to start on the "whoa with birds" section. I was wondering, though, is there a way to "re-use" birds on that portion? I...
- Wed Aug 07, 2013 3:47 pm
- Forum: General Chat
- Topic: Scared to Death
- Replies: 17
- Views: 6756
Re: Scared to Death
When we got our GSP a little over a year ago, the first time we went to my parents' house their older dog (actually the dog I got in high school ...) was terrified of the puppy. He's a VERY timid/subordinate dog by nature. At my parents' house dogs stay in a 20'x24' pen during the day (they run loos...
- Tue Jul 23, 2013 2:22 pm
- Forum: General Chat
- Topic: Exercise
- Replies: 7
- Views: 3776
Re: Exercise
We play fetch with our GSP daily (he's a little over a year old) and I don't think he's getting tired of it ... he's obsessed. We have a Chuck-it thrower so we don't have to pick up slimy tennis balls. In the morning we take a walk around the neighborhood and he runs around chasing birds in a field ...
- Tue Jul 23, 2013 2:14 pm
- Forum: General Chat
- Topic: please recommend dog friendly National/State Parks
- Replies: 14
- Views: 4959
Re: please recommend dog friendly National/State Parks
Usually the national forest areas are more "dog friendly" than the parks - I don't know if forest areas are an option for you. We also enjoy having our dog along with us for camping trips - several years ago we went on a backpacking trip with our Boxer and it was tons of fun. He settled right in to ...
- Wed Jul 17, 2013 7:11 am
- Forum: General Chat
- Topic: marking in a house
- Replies: 20
- Views: 7596
Re: marking in a house
So can you train a dog to stop marking entirely, and just squat to pee just when they need to pee? Or is that too much to ask? I would think that would be about as easy as getting all 3 "boys" in my house to always to keep the seats neat and tidy and in the down position. Males... :roll: Yeah, that...
- Tue Jul 16, 2013 2:22 pm
- Forum: General Chat
- Topic: marking in a house
- Replies: 20
- Views: 7596
Re: marking in a house
So can you train a dog to stop marking entirely, and just squat to pee just when they need to pee? Or is that too much to ask? The dog never marks when we have him walking at heel, but frequently on walks we let him wander a little (he has an e-collar and we keep him within ~15 yards), so then of co...
- Sat Jul 13, 2013 2:52 pm
- Forum: General Chat
- Topic: marking in a house
- Replies: 20
- Views: 7596
Re: marking in a house
I'd bet the dog is not being allowed out to do his business often enough or doesn't know how to alert the new person of his need. As a dog needs to be corrected within 30 seconds of a behaviour, punishing him later than that, is a bad idea. The first time he did it (the one time I observed him doin...
- Sat Jul 13, 2013 7:52 am
- Forum: General Chat
- Topic: marking in a house
- Replies: 20
- Views: 7596
Re: marking in a house
Yeah, I told her to put him in a kennel if he was causing trouble in the house (she had a spare), but I think she didn't want to be too hard on him or something ... I really would have preferred she did something to discipline/prevent behavior like that - which is why I'm not planning on using her i...
- Fri Jul 12, 2013 5:34 pm
- Forum: General Chat
- Topic: marking in a house
- Replies: 20
- Views: 7596
Re: marking in a house
He's not unsupervised in the house often/ever ... I'm pretty dead sure he's never marked in our house. He generally follows us around the house or is passed out on his bed, or is in his kennel or in the backyard. Besides, with a 2-year-old and a 6-month-old, I'm not sure we'd be able to say for sure...
- Fri Jul 12, 2013 4:34 pm
- Forum: General Chat
- Topic: marking in a house
- Replies: 20
- Views: 7596
marking in a house
We recently kenneled Scout (1 yr) at a neighbor's house for a week while we were out of town. He has never marked in our house (hasn't peed in the house at all since he was a puppy), but he apparently kept going after two particular spots in the house. He did one while I was there dropping him off a...
- Mon May 27, 2013 7:24 pm
- Forum: Health and Nutrition
- Topic: raw paws
- Replies: 6
- Views: 2777
raw paws
We just got back from a weekend at my parents' cabin in the mountains. Scout (1 yr GSP) had a blast the first day charging all over the mountain ... and after about six hours of fun, he was a wreck. His paws are so sore; now that we're home and he isn't covered in dirt, I can see just how much of a ...